Several things have been on my mind this week as I have really been seeking the Lord about what is on his heart for me. I really had no idea what I was going to write about this week until earlier today because I had several options. Even though there has been a lot on my heart and mind, the thing that is most pressing is to let God use me where I am. I really want to encourage all readers in this. Let God use you where you are.
If you are like me, you probably had plans that you really thought were going to come to fruition but never did. Those plans could have been getting a new job, going to visit a friend, moving to a big city, traveling abroad. No matter how big or how small the plans were, they haven’t happened yet. I am a planner. Always have been, always will be. Even though I have seen a lot of plans actually happen. I’ve also also seen plans never occur. If you told me 12 years ago that I would be a Retention Advisor one day, helping students in academic difficulty, I would have laughed at you, as I was struggling academically myself. I had plans to be a youth pastor. I also had plans to make a living working in a church full-time. Never once did I think I would be working at a college with students as my career.
God had other plans for me. The Bible tells us “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8. God’s thoughts are so much greater than our thoughts and his ways are so much better than our ways. God’s ways are the best ways because he knows us. He knows what we need. He knows what we are good at. And he has good plans for us.
God has really been speaking to me about letting him use me where I am. See, I’m not currently in full-time ministry like I thought I would be by now and that’s okay. Or at least not the type of ministry I thought I would be in. One may argue that we are all in full-time ministry and I would agree with them. I can still share the love of Jesus no matter where I am. Now I know I can’t go preaching to everyone at my job. That’s not legal. But what I can do is love them like Christ loves them.
I have two close friends that I have talked about this sort of thing with before. We have been friends for about 13 years now and most of that has been long distance. We used to talk about how cool it would be if we all lived in the same town again. This topic usually came up as we were talking about how we missed each other when one of us wasn’t there. Then we started talking about how we know that is not what God has for us. All of us would say we would love to live close together and would definitely rock it doing ministry together, but we wouldn’t be able to meet as many people. See, if we all worked in the church we wouldn’t be able to reach those outside the church. We would only have a tiny bubble of people we were reaching.
God has really been reminding me of this lately. He has been reminding me that yes, I am not doing the things I had planned to do, but he is still using me. I know that God is using me in my job. I know that he is using me at home. I know that he is using me when I am with my friends. I have a few co-workers in my life that are also my friends outside of work. Like we actually hang out with each other away from the office. It’s crazy, I know! Just the other day one of those co-workers said “Melissa, you really are the same person every where you go. You are the same at work as you are outside of work” and she’s right. I have always strived to be the same person no matter where I am. I can be just as much of a light when I am with my church friends as I can when I am with my co-workers. There is something to be said about surrounding yourself with other believers to build you up, but we can also love non-believers just as much.
I really want to encourage you in this: Let God use you where you are. It doesn’t matter if you are working at Wendy’s, on a college campus, at a local high school or at a church, God can still use you where you are. You may not be able to preach at your job, but you can show the love of Christ with your actions. You may not be able to pray for that student who is going through a difficult time while they are in your office, but you can pray for them silently when they leave.
I don’t know what God has for me next. What I do know is that he is going to use me no matter where I am. I also know that he will use you if you let him. It is my prayer that you will let God use you and you will be obedient to what he has for you. Amen.